Week 1 - NEED IT
DISCOVERY DISCIPLESHIP GROUP
Let’s remind ourselves what we’re up to.
DISCOVERY
Instead of telling you what to believe and how to live, we’ll connect you with the Bible so you can discover that together as a group. Discovery promotes engagement in the process and ownership of the outcomes.
DISCIPLESHIP
Being a disciple is a whole-life response to Jesus as Savior and Lord. It’s about following Jesus and His way of life. As you grow in your faith and commitment to Jesus, you’ll learn to live your life as if He were in your shoes. Be with Jesus > Become like Jesus > Live like Jesus > Make Disciples of Jesus.
GROUP
You could go through Follow The Way on your own. You’ll get more out of it, however, if you work through it with 2 or 3 others. Consider finding a guide to coach you. This guide doesn’t have to be an expert in the faith. They just need to be a few steps ahead of you on the journey to point you in the right direction. Here’s a thought. After you have worked through Follow The Way, you’ll be ready to guide others through it.
3/3s FORMAT
In order to learn how to practically follow Jesus, our group will continue using what is called the 3/3s Format (Connect-Discover-Live)
CONNECT
What are you thankful for?
What challenge are you facing?
Have there been any answers to prayer?
Pray for each other.
From the last week of FRUIT (Week 8 on WHY?) …
Did anything stand out to you from last week’s follow-up Bible readings?
How did your “I will …” statement from last week go?
How did your sharing goal from last week go?
DISCOVER
From FRUIT to FILLING
How did Jesus do what He did? In other words, how did Jesus know what to say to people or how to minister to people?
In FRUIT, we saw that Jesus did what He did through His relationship with His Father.
John 5:19-20 (NLT)
19 So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing. In fact, the Father will show him how to do even greater works than healing this man. Then you will truly be astonished.”
John 12:49-50 (NLT)
49 “I don’t speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it. 50 And I know his commands lead to eternal life; so I say whatever the Father tells me to say.”
FRUIT, then, was about partnership—Jesus’ partnership with the Father AND our partnership with Jesus. As Jesus says in John 15:5, our memory work from FRUIT:
I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
In FILLING, we’ll see that not only did Jesus do what He did through His partnership with His Father, but also through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Once again, the same is true for us. Not only do we need to partner with Jesus, we need to be empowered by the Spirit.
Need It
Let’s go to the Bible to discover Jesus’ relationship with the Spirit and our relationship with the Spirit as well.
Jesus
Ask God to speak to you as you read His Word.
Luke 4:14-21 (NLT)
14 Then Jesus returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit’s power. Reports about him spread quickly through the whole region. 15 He taught regularly in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.
16 When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures. 17 The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,
that the blind will see,
that the oppressed will be set free,
19 and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.”20 He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently. 21 Then he began to speak to them. “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!”
From this passage, how did Jesus carry out His ministry and fulfill His mission?
Acts 10:36-38 (NLT)
36 This is the message of Good News for the people of Israel—that there is peace with God through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. 37 You know what happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee, after John began preaching his message of baptism. 38 And you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.
How are both aspects of Jesus’ partnership with the Father and His empowerment by the Holy Spirit in this passage?
Often we think that Jesus did what He did because He is God’s Son. So to speak, His HOW is in His WHO. Of course, Jesus could live a miraculous life. What you do expect from God’s eternal Son?
But though Jesus is God Himself, He is God in human flesh. And as we have seen, the Bible reveals that Jesus did what He did through His partnership with the Father and His empowerment by the Holy Spirit.
Us
This has huge implications for how we can join Jesus in mission. Not only do we need to partner with Jesus, we need to be empowered by the Holy Spirit. And when we are, amazingly Jesus says we will carry on His ministry by doing what He did.
John 14:12-14 (NLT)
12 “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. 13 You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. 14 Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!”
How could Jesus say that we will do what He did, and even greater things?
How does prayer factor in to doing what Jesus did?
How does going to the Father factor in to doing what Jesus did?
John 16:7 (NLT)
But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate (referring to the Holy Spirit) won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you.
Luke 24:45-52 (NIV)
45 Then (after Jesus’ resurrection) he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised (referring to the Holy Spirit); but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
50 When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. 51 While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. 52 Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.
Acts 1:8-9 (NIV)
8 “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
What’s the relationship between joining Jesus’ mission and the Person and power of the Holy Spirit?
As we begin this study on the Holy Spirit …
What has been your experience with the Holy Spirit?
What questions do you have about the Holy Spirit?
Not Able but Enabled
God never intended for us to live the Christian life in our own strength. Instead, He gives us the Holy Spirit to empower us. Then what we could never do on our own, we do by the Spirit.
Filling’s Memory Work
Here’s our memory work for FILLING:
Acts 4:31 (NIV)
After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
LIVE
What truth have you discovered from today’s Bible passage(s) and conversation?
What would stop you from believing and obeying this truth?
How will you live out this truth this coming week? Finish this statement: “I will ….”
Who else needs to hear this truth? How could you share it with them?
When will we meet again?
Who will facilitate that meeting?
Pray for God’s help as you seek to follow Jesus this coming week.
FOLLOW-UP BIBLE READINGS
After each group meeting, there will be 3 Bible readings to help you dig a bit deeper into what we have discussed.
To help you connect with Jesus, we encourage you to use the Daily Connect connection prompts with the first two Bible readings and the Lord’s Prayer with the third Bible reading.
Here are the Bible passages you are encouraged to read this coming week:
BUDDY SYSTEM
It’s recommended that you set up a buddy system for ongoing encouragement and accountability. Buddy people up and have them contact each other for a midweek check-in. Think of this as a five-minute phone call, rather than an in-person sit-down meeting. Touch base and ask these questions of each other:
How are your readings going?
How’s your “I will …” statement coming along?
How’s your sharing goal coming along?
How can I pray for you?